There's some debate among financial analysts and patent law experts on what impact (if any) Friday's news that Apple had won a $1 billion verdict against Samsung related to claims that its tablets infringed on various iPad-related patents. This morning various financial analysts offered their two cents including JP Morgan, Barclays, UBS, and Macquarie Equities Research. GIGA OM offers a rundown of comments from various financial analysts, but we offer the bullet points below.

JP Morgan says that the verdict is a "negative for the Android ecosystem as it likely puts more pressure on Android OEMs to clearly differentiate devices and it suggests the courts may be willing to tightly enforce software and design patents in the future." The firm goes on to say that it may force Google and Motorola to start working on new phone and tablet designs.

Barclays believes the verdict will have "a minimal near-term impact on Android’s global momentum in the smartphone arena" but admits that a "sales injunction against Samsung products could impact Android’s strength in the U.S." They also point out that the devices that were included in the verdict are older Samsung devices, and that the company's Galaxy S III was not affected.

UBS says that if Apple manages to survive a challenge to the verdict in higher courts and it is willing to settle, that it could result in a new "royalty revenue stream."

Finally, Macquarie Equities Research thinks this ruling could affect the "important search distribution arrangements between GOOG and AAPL (although the true financial impact remains unclear)." They go on to say that the verdict will affect other areas that are important to Apple like YouTube on its devices.

Comments

Or it could - like in the past, result in a technology that takes away Apple's perceived iron grip on a technology concept. Like IBM's 'success' with Microchannel or Sony's 'success' with BetaMAX for instance - out of those ISA/PCI and VHS took hold of the markets..